Viral Headlines Explained In 3 Words

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Viral Headlines Explained In 3 Words…

Here’s a link that was placed at the bottom of a recent newsletter:

“Viral content explained in 6 words”.

It was a link to a bite-sized snippet of content on the website Marketing Examples.

Embarrassingly, anyone who visited the link would have realized it’s explained in seven words and not six 🤦‍♂️.

But anyway…

The link received twice as many clicks as the other two, both of which received the average number of clicks I’d expect.

My description of the content — “Viral content explained in 6 words” — could be called a headline.

Why did it get so many clicks?

I believe it comes down to three words.

Three words that describe what many viral headlines should promise to do:

The headline promises to take a large, complex topic (viral content) and simplify it into six words.

Here’s why this is so irresistible and why you should try it in a future piece of content…

Why “Simplifying The Complex” Works So Well In Viral Headlines

It suggests that the information will be easy to digest and clear.

People love simplicity.

It also makes people curious.

How can such a complex topic be condensed into just a few words?

So they click to find out and close that curiosity gap.

Here’s something to bear in mind:

The more complex the topic and the more extreme your promise of simplicity, the more likely it is to grab attention.

For example, “Viral content explained in 2 hours” wouldn’t have gotten as many clicks.

The promise of simplicity isn’t as extreme.

“Writing a tweet explained in six words” wouldn’t have gotten as many clicks either.

Because the topic isn’t as large or complex.

Ideas For Simplifying The Complex In Your Own Content

Try these formats, no matter what niche you’re in.

• Summarize In A Word Count:

  • Eg. “Chemical Engineering Explained In 10 Words”.

• Time-Based Simplification: 

  • Eg. “US Politics Explained In Under 2 Minutes.”

• Brief Bullet Points Promise: 

  • Eg. “5G Networks Explained In 5 Bullet Points.”

• Set A Specific Sentence Limit:

  • Eg. “Indoor Plant Maintenance Explained In 3 Sentences.”

“But What If I Can’t Explain The Topic In Just A Few Words”?

Let’s take the newsletter you’re reading right now as an example.

The headline is “Viral Headlines Explained In 3 Words”.

It’s attention-grabbing and hopefully increases your curiosity.

But while the three-word explanation is technically here (“simplify the complex”), you’ll notice that the content is much longer.

Here’s the process:

1. Think of a way to simplify your content into just a few words or a short sentence.

2. Use this to write the headline (eg. “Blockchain Explained In 7 Words”).

3. Place the ultra-brief explanation early on in the content so the audience doesn’t feel like they’ve been duped.

4. Go on to explain the brief explanation in more detail to make the content more thorough and valuable.

Using this process ensures that the payoff for the promise made in the headline is there (i.e. extreme simplification).

But it also ensures that the audience gets a proper explanation of the concept.

Let’s face it…

If all you saw when you opened this email were the words “Simplify The Complex”, you probably wouldn’t have been happy 😅.

🐰 rabbit holes and resources

🍫 Today’s link candy for content creators:

• Worried you don’t have enough “authority” to create content? Read this [link]

• How to find your “two-word personal brand” [link]

• The best 30 call-to-action examples for creators (+ everything else you need to know) [link]